Here’s a guide to more than 150 places to go tasting in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties with our writers’ picks leading you to some of the best brews. While San Diego may have started it all, you might be surprised at how many craft breweries have bubbled up near you.

A new normal is emerging in which every community has its own local brews – ironically, much like the beer industry of a century ago, before Prohibition and repeal, consolidation and modern methods of preservation and distribution changed everything. Like the slow-food movement, craft beer taps into feelings of community pride and enlightened consumerism: supporting a local product, choosing freshness and authenticity over convenience and slick marketing, and cherishing a place where people gather to socialize, kick back and mingle with friends and neighbors.
We’ve taken a deep dive into craft breweries throughout Southern California and made some surprising discoveries.